invisible sun and disappearing baggage

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well yesterday was check out day and we picked up a cab about 2:00 pm. This cabbie also spoke some English and said his parents lived in Newark, NJ. Now this is weird as the first cabbie had a sister that lived in Bloomfield. This cab driver got slightly lost going to the airport so it was good that we gave ourselves extra time.

When we got to the airport they offered to wrap the luggage in plastic. While it did not prevent security from examining the luggage if desired, we figured it would make the luggage easier to find so we paid $9 per item to be wrapped. Our return flight was rather convoluted. We were to fly from Montevideo to Buenos Aires (BA) then from BA to Dallas/Fort Worth and then onto Newark. We boarded on time but the flight was slightly delayed due to smoke in BA. As we took off we could see smoke in the air. The flight to BA was a short one but the smoke got heavier as we crossed the Rio de la Plata. It was otherwise a beautifully sunny day above the smoke level which was about 4500 feet at its height. As we descended into the smoke the sun became just a small orange ball and by the time we landed the sun was not visible. It looked like a summer day with hazy overcast skies that had thunderstorm written all over them. The only problem was that these were not clouds and it was a dry day. I had hoped to take a picture of the sky but by the time we got through immigration it was getting dark outside.

We did not have to do any baggage claim in BA so we boarded the 9:45 flight and took off. I got my gluten free meal and went to sleep best I could. Later in the morning I got my gluten free breakfast and we landed around 6:00 a.m. in Dallas/FW. We headed to baggage claim and we found only 2 of our three pieces of luggage. The fellow who was working near the baggage was not very helpful and I had a hard time understanding him as I could not figure out what his accent was. He gave me a piece of paper with lost baggage info. I went through customs with the piece of paper and then we took the tram to the next gate. While waiting for our flight I called the number. The woman said that it was not considered lost by American Airlines until we got to our final destination. So we hoped that the bag would be there in Newark. I looked for some gluten free snacks as the next flight did not include a meal. Not finding any I resorted to my gluten free cookies from Uruguay and some gluten free chocolates I picked up at the duty free shop in BA.

We got to Newark and this time we found only one piece of luggage. We went to the baggage office and reported the missing luggage. By this time we had been on the move for more than 24 hours. We got a ride from the airport, got home then retrieved the dog from the pet sitter's. By 6 p.m. they had found the luggage and they are supposed to deliver it tonight which means that someone has to stay awake until it is dropped off at the door. I would upload the photos now, but the camera attachments are in the luggage.

Overall it was a very relaxing trip other than the last minute luggage fiasco.

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